This is an interactive, real-time display system of space science images and data designed for museums and schools. The program displays hundreds of images and movies from space science research, all documented, with web references of how to find...(View More) out more information. The materials also include a large number of space science educational activities. The software is available for purchase. Full-screen versions without support files are available for download but require a registration number after a 30-day demo period.(View Less)

Students will use educational materials from NASA's Cosmic Times to create their own mash-up (an image, audio or video created by combining two or more sources of media into a new work). This lesson offers the opportunity to use media mash-up...(View More) technology, to acquire knowledge through differentiated instruction, and for students to present their knowledge, ideas and individual perspectives. The lesson includes links to handouts, procedures, and introductory mash-up videos.(View Less)

This afterschool curriculum includes six lessons plus supplementary materials (e.g., videos, PowerPoint presentations, and images) that explore how light from the electromagnetic spectrum is used as a tool for learning about the Sun. The curriculum...(View More) is designed to be flexible to meet the needs of afterschool programs and includes recommendations for partial implementation based on time constraints. It was specifically designed to engage girls in science.(View Less)

In this activity, students create a scale model depicting the vertical distance from Earth’s surface to various features and objects, including Earth’s atmospheric layers, the Van Allen Radiation Belts, and geocentric satellites. Students also...(View More) compare the vertical distances to these features and objects with distances from their classroom to other common points on the ground. Includes background science information; student reading, handouts and worksheet; teacher information; and suggested extensions and adaptations for students with vision impairment.(View Less)

Using three images from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) mission, students measure and analyze infrared light from objects to identify Brown Dwarfs and Ultra-Luminous Infrared Galaxies (ULIRGs). The lesson includes a teacher’s guide,...(View More) student worksheet and PowerPoint presentation (which contains the three images to be analyzed).(View Less)

Dieter Hartmann, a high-energy physicist, presents a story-based lesson on the science of Gamma-Ray astronomy. The lesson focuses on gamma-ray bursts; examining their sources, types, and links to the origin and evolution of the Universe. The...(View More) story-based format of the lesson also provides insights into the nature of science. Students answer questions based on the reading guide. A list of supplemental websites is also included.(View Less)

The Cosmic Times Gallery Walk and Cosmic Times Jigsaw lessons serve as extensions to the Cosmic Times suite of curriculum support materials. They are intended to provide an introduction to Cosmic Times as a whole, giving students the larger picture...(View More) of how our understanding of the universe has changed over the last century. During the Gallery Walk lesson, students peruse the Cosmic Times posters to answer open-ended questions. During the Jigsaw lesson, students work in cooperative teams to understand the primary scientific advances over the past century that have contributed to our current understanding of the universe.(View Less)

This is an activity about scale. Participants will arrange imagery of Earth and many other space objects in order of their size from smallest to largest, their distance from Earth's surface, their temperature from coolest to hottest, and/or their...(View More) age from youngest to oldest. By manipulating these images and discussing their ideas, children and adults represent and confront their own mental models of space and time.(View Less)

This story-based lesson presents information on the early investigation into solar and cosmic X-rays, as well as the scientists working in pursuit of X-ray detection and imaging, that set the stage for a program of space-based astronomy. The lesson...(View More) is narrated by Dr. Herbert Friedman, and includes information on his work, as well as his childhood, home life, and interests while a college student.(View Less)

NASA scientist, Neil Gehrels, serves as your guide to this online lesson on gamma ray tools, which focuses on advances in detector technologies since the 1980s that have enabled us to capture and image high-energy phenomena. Dr. Gehrels explains...(View More) different methods for detecting and imaging high-energy particles, how they work, and the advantages and disadvantages of each, using examples and imagery from NASA missions.(View Less)